Sunday, 6 May 2007

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Jason Priestley: I died for 90 seconds

Actor tells how he's lucky to be alive

Beverly Hills 90210 star Jason Priestley says he died for nearly a minute after a crash on the race car circuit.

A race car driver for 11 years, Jason, 37, worked his way up to the Pro Series for the Kentucky 100 in 2002, when he suffered a near-fatal accident.

'As a race car driver, you understand that ending up in hospital is probably an eventuality,' he explains. 'Your job is to do what it takes to get yourself out of hospital.'

And this smash was no bump on the dodgems.

'I was non-responsive for about 90 seconds,' he says, 'and somebody told me I wasn't going to walk again, but I knew I'd walk.

'I spent three months in a wheelchair and had extensive physical therapy,' he tells Celebs On Sunday. 'It was difficult at times. Am I lucky? Yeah. Would I change it? No.'

Blimey, Jase, we had no idea you were such a hard man.